Tom Terrific is back. Tom Brady has gone from record-setting MVP to injured superstar to The Associated Press 2009 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. rady's strong return from a left knee injury that sidelined him for all but the first quarter of the 2008 opener earned the Patriots quarterback the award Wednesday. One of football's biggest stars, Brady has gone from NFL Most Valuable Player in 2007, when he set several passing records, to sidelined to earning his second league award.

After a regular season marked by uncharacteristic controversy, the usually steady New England Patriots enter a postseason fraught with uncertainty. In the 2009 season, the Patriots faced the kind of adversity rarely seen in New England over the past decade.

There was no denying the significance of the blue cap and rolled T-shirt that Leigh Bodden clutched as he left Gillette Stadium on Sunday. The gear, left in each player's locker after the New England Patriots' 35-7 smackdown of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was stamped "AFC East champions." It represented a reason why Bodden joined Team Belichick last spring as a free agent.

One after another, five defensive starters retired or were traded by the New England Patriots before the season, taking away 52 years of NFL experience. On Monday night, one after another, long gains by New Orleans Saints receivers turned what was expected to be a close game into a 38-17 rout.

Bill Belichick outsmarted himself this time. How else to explain it? The Patriots coach thumbed his nose at conventional football wisdom and went for it on fourth-and-2 from the New England 28-yard line leading by six just before the two-minute warning rather than punting to likely force Peyton Manning to drive about 70 yards for a game-winning score.

Bill Belichick outsmarted himself this time. How else to explain it? The Patriots coach thumbed his nose at conventional football wisdom and went for it on fourth-and-2 from the New England 28-yard line leading by six just before the two-minute warning rather than punting to likely force Peyton Manning to drive about 70 yards for a game-winning score.

Tom Brady launched a long pass to Randy Moss that was too long. He threw a short pass and hit an open Wes Welker in the foot. The quarterback known for his comebacks hasn't regained his form after a knee injury ended his 2008 season in the first game.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning's oldest brother, Cooper, isn't a doctor. Yet he played one last week. The part-owner of a New Orleans energy firm morphed into an amateur podiatrist in passing on 25 plantar fasciitis remedies, one of which helped his kid brother play through a painful right heel injury.

The rivalry between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, already one of the most intense in the NFL, may reach a feverish new high when they clash for the 100th time on Sunday. Against a backdrop that includes chasing each other's coaches and players, cold-war handshakes, and pursuit of inside information that escalated until the league sanctioned the Patriots for "Spygate," first-year Jets coach Rex Ryan enters the fray with a style rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez refers to as "blunt force trauma."

Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo probably will play again this season after hurting his right knee in the opener, welcome news for a team that lost Tom Brady for the 2008 season to a knee injury in the first game.

It appears Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo will return to the field at some point this season. New England coach Bill Belichick said Tuesday he doesn't think last year's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year is done for the year after hurting his right knee in the first quarter of Monday night's opener.